The Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS) has been compiling Greenland ice sheet thickness data since The airborne program utilizes a 150 MHz radar echo sounder to measure the ice thickness. The data is currently available on the CReSIS web site in various formats including PDF, Matlab, and plain text files. These formats are not usable in the classroom environment as a visual representation of the ice depth for each expedition. During the Undergraduate Research Experience in Ocean, Marine and Polar Science 2009 program, the Greenland Data Visualization Team took the CReSIS data and created a 4-D visualization consisting of depth, time, latitude, and longitude. This visualization was created utilizing HTML, JavaScript, and PHP. Microsoft Excel was used to filter the raw data downloaded from the CReSIS site. The team then statistically analyzed the Greenland ice sheet thickness data for calculated, missing, and actual depth readings. The goal of this project was to present the CReSIS data via the web in a visual format to elementary, undergraduate, and graduate students for research and education. This visualization package and corresponding data will eventually be migrated to the Elizabeth City State University Polar Grid High Performance Computing System. The research that follows involved converting plain text files to comma separated values to be used by PHP and JavaScript to produce data visualizations in Google Maps and HTML pages.

Overview

Data Visualization & Terminology

 Download files  Storage on flash drive or personal computers

 Index  Date  Comment Added Columns

New Longitude formula: =(E1-360) Replace -999 or NAN to 0 formula: =IF((D1=“0”),”0”-(D1)) Comment in column J formula: =IF((D1=“0”),”M”,IF((I1=“CALCD”), “C”, “A”))

Combine files into one folder

Sort by time and redo index

Line Graph =IF(sheet name_05!$A2/ROUNDUP(COUNT(sheetname_05!$A:$A)/32000,0)=INT(sheet name_05!$A2/ROUNDUP(COUNT(sheet name_05!$A:$A)/32000,0)),sheet name_05!A2,"")

Scatter Plot

Flight Plan May 30, 2002 data of flight

 Copy phase five  Recorded and analyze  Count for actual, calculating, and missing lines Formula: =COUNTIF(J:J,”A”)

Formula: =IF(S1$A1/ROUNDUP(COUNT(S1!$A:$A)/200,0)=INT(S1!$A1/ROUNDUP(COUNT(S1! $A:$A)/200,0))1!A1””)  Copy phase five folder  Reduce to 200 lines

Phase Nine  Deleted columns A, E, H, and I  Replace “p” (paragraph mark ) with ^p for PHP

Phase Ten  Remove calculations and formulas from excel  Delete A, E, H, and I again  Overwritten, Producing In Google Map

Final Product Flight Paths 4-D Visualization Data Downloads

 Present- Future data could can be utilized to produce a more accurate visual of what is happening to the now.  Antarctic Data- The calculation of lost ice could be compared to see if there is the same amount of loss or if the climate is changing differently in the two locations.  Excel Macros-In phases IV and VII macros were used to perform some of the tedious task. In phase IV the task was to combine the data by days. Since there were multiple files per day, Visualization is used often in the area of teaching, research, and development.  Standardized Data Collection Format CReSIS used different formats, which made out work more challenging by précising the information together.  At some point the data will be moved to a high computing cluster at ECSU. This cluster will be able to handle the data faster. The high computer cluster will be located in the E.V. Wilkins Building on the ECSU campus.

Dr. Linda B. Hayden Jeff Wood CReSIS CERSER

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